“Anytime is a good time to talk about death.” – Peg Sandeen, CEO of Death with Dignity
On Thursday, January 15, 2026, our CEO Peg Sandeen, was invited to speak on the Wisconsin radio show Mind-Mornings on Civic Media with host Greg Bach. During this interview, Peg spoke about how she got involved with Death with Dignity, educating the public about medical aid in dying, and end-of-life policy.
The Journey to Death with Dignity
Peg opened the interview by sharing the story of her husband, John, and how it shaped her lifelong commitment to Death with Dignity and end-of-life choices. She met John as a college intern in the late 1980s. Shortly after they married, John was diagnosed with HIV on Thanksgiving Day in 1989, at a time when AIDS was widely understood as a death sentence. Available treatments were brutal, often offering little benefit while causing immense suffering.
As John’s condition worsened, his pain became unbearable. During a rare moment of clarity, he asked Peg to help end his life. “During the suffering, he wanted another option,” Peg explained. Like so many terminally ill people, John wanted end-of-life options that would allow him to remain lucid, say goodbye, and die with dignity rather than endure prolonged suffering.
Peg wasn’t even sure John would have taken the medication if it had been available. “It’s not necessarily about the act of taking it, it’s about the choice,” she said. At just 27 years old, Peg understood his wish, but Iowa did not have a medical aid in dying law at the time. Helping him die would have been illegal.
Two and a half years after John died, Peg became a social worker. That path eventually led her to Death with Dignity, where she is now CEO, dedicating her life to ensuring that terminally ill people have access to medical aid in dying and the freedom to choose a death marked by dignity, autonomy, and compassion.
End of Life Education
Peg emphasizes the importance of using accurate language when discussing medical aid in dying, and the responsibility we share in educating the public about that language. She explains the critical distinction between Death with Dignity and terms like “assisted suicide,” noting how opponents intentionally misuse language to stoke fear and misunderstanding about dying. Opposition strategy relies on confusion; Death with Dignity is rooted in compassion, clarity, and truth.
By reclaiming the conversation, Peg underscores that we can help people better understand their end-of-life choices and the full range of end-of-life options available to terminally ill patients. Education is central to ensuring that these deeply personal decisions are guided by facts rather than fear.
Peg also highlights the power of people sharing their real end-of-life experiences in this work. By uplifting the voices of loved ones who have used Death with Dignity laws, or those who experienced loss because their family member was denied that choice, we can educate lawmakers and our communities about this end-of-life option. These experiences bring humanity to policy debates and reinforce why access to medical aid in dying matters so deeply at the end of life.
Medical Aid in Dying Policy
Peg describes her work traveling across the country to meet with lawmakers, ensuring they understand how medical aid in dying laws function to serve terminally ill patients and the robust safeguards to ensure clear protections are in place. These laws, she explains, are designed to expand end-of-life options for dying people while maintaining strict protections for the broader public.
“That’s what Death with Dignity does so beautifully,” Peg says. “It grants dying people the right to access the law, and protects everybody else.”
She goes on to note that every medical aid in dying law passed in the United States is rooted in the original Oregon Death with Dignity Act of 1994. Drawing on decades of experience, Peg and her team work closely with legislators to adapt this proven framework to fit each state’s unique healthcare system, ensuring that dignity and patient choice remain at the center of end-of-life care.
If Peg’s words inspired you to get involved in your state, our advocacy resource has dozens of ways to get involved to help make sure terminally ill patients can have the option to medical aid in dying at the end of life.